Hobby-horse.



No. 800,869. PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

J. A. MOSWEENY & J. WILSON.Y

HOBBY HORSE.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG.15, 1904.

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PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905. J. WILSON. HOBBY HORSE.

LIoATIoN FILED AUG.15. 1904.

J. A. MCSWEENY &

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No. 800,869. PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905. J. A. MGSWEENY & J. WILSON. HOBBY HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1904.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

wnNEssEs: 7 7b LJVENTORS l 05e veel MM '/miml'y f BY QJ., "ATTORNEY No. 800,869. vPATEIWIEZO OCT. 3, 1905. J. A. MCSWBENY & J. WILSON.

HOBBY HORSE.

APPLIGATIQN rILED AUG.15,1904.

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INVENTORS zwee/gg m m www 1 n www R UNITED STATES PATENT FFTO.

JOSEPH A. MCSIVEEN Y, OF NEW YORK, AND JOHN VILSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK; SAID WILSON ASSIGNOR TO SAID McSI/VEENY.

HOBBY- Specification of Letters atent.

HORSE.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

To [1J/Z r11-7mm it 711/07/ concern:

Beit known that we, JOSEPH A. MGSWEENY, a resident of New York city` in the county of N ew York, and Jol-1N IVILsoN, a resident of Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York, citizens of the United States, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hobby-Horses, of which the following is a specilication.

The invention relates to improvements in hobby-horses; and it consists in the novel features and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is to produce a novel construction of hobby-.horse capable of convenient operation and which may be caused to travel upon wheels and guided as may be desired; and to this end the hobby-horse of the present invention comprises, among other details,a pivotally-mounted body portion upon which the rider may sit, legs pivotally secured at their upper ends to said body portion and at their lower ends to crank-shafts, wheels secured upon said crank-shafts and supporting the entire structure, and means under the control of the rider for guiding the horse during its traveling movement, which is caused by the action of the rider in alternately throwing his weight forwardly and rearwardly at opposite sides of the pivot-point of the body portion of the horse.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which# Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hobbyhorse embodying the invention, a rider being represented thereon. Fig. 2is a central vertical longitudinal section of same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of same on the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of same on the dotted line 44 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a bottom view rof same, and Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section through a portion of same on the dotted line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

In the drawings, 10 designates the body of the horse; 11, the front legs thereof; 12, the rear legs thereof; 13, the front crank-shaft, upon which the legs 11 at their lower ends are pivotally mounted; 14, the rear crank-shaft, upon which the rear legs 12 at their lower ends are pivotally mounted; 15, the supporting-wheels, secured upon the ends 0f said crank-shafts; 16, the rods connecting the upper ends of said legs with theI body of the horse, and 17 the transverse pivots, Fig. 3, upon which said body is mounted and has its rocking motion, said pivots being held in the upper end of astandard 18, whose lower portions extend forwardly and rearwardly and constitute a reach connecting the crank-shafts 13 14 to prevent the pairs of front and rear legs 11 12 from spreadingA unduly in a direction from each other and to preserve the said' crank-shafts in proper relation to each other.

The body 1() is in the form of a pivoted rocking lever and for attractiveness has been given the outline of the body of a horse; butitmay be of any suitable coniiguration. The body 10 is preferably formed of two transverse sections, as indicated by the sectional lines in Figs. 2 and 3, and within said body are supported the longitudinal I-bars 19, upon which a rotary wheel 2O is mounted, the latter beingrigid upon the upper end of a bolt 2l, which extends downwardly, and at its lower end is connected by a knuckle-joint with the rod 22, which eXtends downwardly through the standard 18 and has keyed upon its lower end the two-armed lever 23, Fig. 5, to the ends of which are pivotally connected the forwardly-extending rods 24 and rearwardlyextending rods 25, the front ends of the rods 24 being connected by sleeves 26 with the front crank-shaft 13, while the rods 25 are crossed and at their rear ends are connected by sleeves 27 with the rear crank-shaft 14.A The wheel 20, rod 22, lever 23, and rods 24 25 are provided for the purpose of enabling the rider to guide the horse either to the right or left, as may be desired. When the wheel 2O is turned in one direction, a corresponding movement will be imparted by the rod 22 to the lever 23, which will act upon the rods 24 25 to turn the crank-shafts 13 14 upon their pivotal supports 28 to cause the horse to turn in one direction, and when the movement of the wheel 2O is reversed its motion will be imparted to the lever 23, which by acting upon the rods 24 25 will cause the crank-shafts 13 14 to turn pivotally in a direction reverse to their former movement.

The rotation of the wheel 2O is to be effected by the rider, who will in the usual manner pull upon one side or the other of the bridlereins 29, these reins being' in one piece fastened at its ends to the pins 30, Fig. 4, eX-

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tending laterally from the wheel 20. Thel ment for turi'iing the horse to one side or the reins 29 pass forwardly from the pins 30, l other unless the legs 11 12 could follow the thence through pulleys 31 32, thence upward ly through right and left hand pulleys 33, Fig. 1, 34, Fig. 2, and thence rearwardly to the rider, as shown in Fig. 1. the reins located at the right-hand side of the wheel 2O passes forwariilly through the body of the horse, thence through the pulleys 31, thence upwardly to the left and through the pulley 34, and thence along the left-hand sideof the neck of the horse to the rider, while that portion of the reins starting from the left-hand side-"of the wheel 2() passes forwardly through the body of the horse, thence through the pulley 32, thence across to the right-hand pulley and thence along the right-hand side of the neck of the horse to the rider, this crossing of the reins at the front of the horse enabling the rider to turn the horse to the right by pulling` on the righthand rein and to the left by pulling' on the left-hand rein.

The shafts 13 14 are mounted in bearings 35, which are swiveled by means of ordinary pivotal supports 26 to the front and rear eX- tensions of the standard 18, the bearings 35 beingcentrally of the said shafts. Both shafts 13 14 are driven shafts, and the crank portions of said shafts extend in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 2, thereby to render it easy to start and keep the body in motion.

The legs 11 12 are loosely swiveled upon the cranks forming parts of the shafts 13 14` and at their upper ends the said legs 11 12 are pivotally mounted upon the transverse rods 16, which are centrally mounted upon vertical pivots 36, Fig. 4, so that they may have a pivotal action when the horse is to be guided toward the right or left. Recesses 37 are provided within the body of the horse, as .shown in Fig. 4, to enable the rods 16 to have a pivotal movement, and the body of the horse about the ends of the rods 16 is given the form of the are of a circle, while the adjacent portions of the legs 11 12 are made concave on the are of the same circle. so that during the movement of the rods 16 the upper portions of the legs 11 12 may remain in close relation to the body of the horse and not distort the appearance of the latter.

The :ll-beams 1S) are slotted in their end portions to receive and permit the movement. of the rods 16, and the lower walls of the slots in said beams or bars serve as bearings for the end portions of the rods 16 and to sustain such downward pressure as may be brought against the same. The -beains 19 are connected by the curved plates 38, Fig. 4, which plates serve to strengthen the structure and the front one of which plates at its ends furnishes stops to arrest the pins at the limit of their respective movements.

It is obvious that the front and rear crankshafts 13 14 could not have a swiveling move That portion of said shafts, and therefore the upper ends of said legs are secured upon the pivoted rods 16, which will move correspondingly with the said shafts, the rods 16 receiving their i'uovemeut from the rigid legs 11 and 12 under the action of said shafts 13 14.

The standard 18 is of substantial form and is in the shape of a vertical hollow frame, whose lower portions extend frontwardly and rearward ly, as above described,to form a reach for the shafts 13 14.

The sleeves 26 27 fit loosely, and therefore permit the rotation of the shafts 13 14 without unnecessary friction.

1n the construction hereinbefore described the rider when turning the horse to the right or left operates both of the shafts 13 14; but it is obvious that the bearing of one of said shafts might be rigidly secured to the standard 18, or an extension thereof, and only one of said shafts be permitted to have a. swiveling movement, thus lessening the number of parts and simplifying the structure. For instance, the rear shaft 14 might be disconnected from the lever 23 and have its bearing made rigid, in which event the guiding' of the horse would be aecompl ish ed through the tu rning of the front shaft 13. However, it is deemed preferable to swivel both the front and rear shafts 13 14, so that the horse may be turned within a very short space.

The horse will be provided with a saddle and stirrups, and the said saddle and stirrups will be so disposed that the rider may throw his weight rearwardly of the pivots 17 or forwardly of said pivots, the rider pressing with the feet against the stirrup when throwing his body forwardly and slightly relieving the pressure of his feet from said stirrups when throwing his body rearwardly.- The horse is kept in motion by the alternate throwing of the weight of the rider forwardly and rearwardly, this action rocking the body of the horse upon the transverse pivots 17, and causing, through the legs 11 and 12, the rotation of the crank-shafts 13 14.

The pivots 17 are shown more clearly in Fig. 3, and they are mounted in bearings furnished in the upper ends of the standard 18. The rider sits sufficiently above the pivots 17 to create a suitable leverage, enabling him to readily operate the horse.

Then the wheels 15 are in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and the horse is in operation, thc said wheels will follow a straight path, but the horse, as above explained, may be turned either to the right or left by pulling on the bridle-reins 2t), thus enabling the horse to travel from a straight path and then be returned to its former line of movement.

The upper and lower sections of the body 1() will preferably be made of wood, and by preference the legs of the horse will be formed IOO IIO

by molding' paper-pulp into the required outlines around metal tubing 40. (Indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.)

That we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording' a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, means swiveling said crankshafts, and means swiveling the upper ends of said legs so that said legs may move correspondingly with any swiveling motion of said shafts during the guiding' of thehorse` and means under the control of the rider for guiding said horse either to the right or left; substantially as set forth.

Q. rlhe hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, means centrally swiveling one of said crank-shafts, means swiveling the upper ends of that pair of said legs connected with said crank-shaft, and means under the control of the rider for turning' said crankshaft on the radius of acircle for the purpose of controlling the direction of travel of the horse; substantially as set forth.

3. The hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts,` and a standard affording a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, a centrally-pivoted rod 16 connecting one pair of said legs together and to the said body portion, means centrally swiveling the crank-shaft connected with said pair of legs, and means under the control of the rider for turning said crank-shaft and said rod 16 on the radius of a circle for controlling the direction of travel of the horse; substantially as set forth.

4. The hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting' said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotall y connected with said body'portion, a centrally-pivoted rod 16 connecting' one pair of said legs together and to the said body portion, means centrally swiveling' the crank-shaft connected with said pair of legs, and means under the control of the rider for turning said crank-shaft and said rod 16 on the radius of a circle for controlling the direction of travel of the horse, said body portion adjacent to the ends of said rod 16 being convex in form, and the inner sides of said legs, at their upper portion, being concave to follow the conveXity of said body portion during the swiveling motion of said rod; substantially as set forth.

5. rl`he hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standardv affordinga bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with saidbody portion, centrally-pivoted rods 16 connecting said legs together in pairs and to the said body portion, means centrally swiveling saidcrank-shafts, and means under the control of the rider for correspondingly turning on their pivots the rear crank-shaft and rear rod 16 and the front crank-shaft and front rod 16 for causing the travel of the horseA to the right or left; substantially as set forth.

6. rlhe hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the rigid legs pivotal] y mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, a centrally-pivoted rod, 16, connecting one pair of said legs together and to said body portion, means centrally swiveling` the crank-shaft connected with one pair of legs, the vertical rod 22 having the doubleended lever 28, the rods E24 connecting said lever 23 with said crank-shaft, and means under the control of the rider for axially turning said rod 22 and thereby turning said crankshaft on a radial line; substantially as set forth.

7. The hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, combined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, a centrallypivoted rod 16 connecting one pair of said legs together and to said body portion, means centrallyswiveling the crank-shaft connected IOO with said pair of legs, the vertical rod Q2 having the double-end ed lever 23, the rods 240,011- necting' said lever 23 with said crank-shaft, the wheel 2O connected with the said rod 2Q, and the reins connected with opposite portions of said wheel Yfor turning said rod 22 and imparting a radial movement to said crank-shaft; substantially as set forth.

8. The hobby-horse comprising' the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion ,at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording a bearing for the pivotal support for said body portion, :ombined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, a Centrallypivoted rod 16 connecting one pair of said legs together and to said body portion, means centrally Swiveling the crank-shaft connected with said pair of legs, the vertical rod 22 having the double-ended lever 9.3, the rods 24e connecting said lever 23 with said Crank-sh aft, the wheel 20, the bolt 21 carried thereby and connected with said rod 22 by a knuckle-joint in line with the pivotal supports for said body v portion, and the reins connected with opposite portions of said wheel for turning said rod 22 on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally conneeted with said body portion, centrally-pivoted rods 16 connecting said legs together in pairs and to the said body portion, means eentrally swiveling said crank-shafts, the vertical rod 22 having the lever 23, the rods 24:, 25 respectively connecting' said lever with the front and rear crank-shafts, and means under the control of the rider for axially turning said rod 22 and thereby turning said Crank-shafts on radial lines; substantially as set forth.

10. The hobby-horse comprising the body portion, means pivotally mounting said body portion at about its transverse center, the front and rear wheels, crank-shafts carrying said wheels, a reach connecting said shafts, and a standard affording a bearing Vfor the pivotal support for said body portion, oombined with the rigid legs pivotally mounted on the cranks of said shafts and pivotally connected with said body portion, centrally-pivoted rods 16 connecting said legs together in pairs and to the said body portion, means centrally swiveling said crank-shafts, the vertical rod 22 having the lever 23, the rods 24, 25 respeetivel y connecting said lever with the front and rear crank-shafts, the wheel 2O eonneeted with said rod 22, and the reins connected with opposite portions of said wheel for t||rning said rod 22 and imiiarting radial movement to said crank-shafts; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 12th day of August, A. D. 1904.

JOSEPH A. MCSY EEN Y. JOHN VILSON. W itnesses:

ARTHUR MARION, CRAs. C. GILL. 

